Looking for thought opinions suggestions. I have a 1998 John Deere 160lc 040224 and the swing bearing is getting wore. The machine is fairly tight , runs and operates rather well in my opinion. There is som up down play when pushing up and down with the boom 1/8” and sounds a little rough while spinning. Is it worth fixing? How far do I run it before I should not use it for safety reasons and fix it or junk it out? If I were to fix what the best route to take and best place to get parts? Also I know there is a salvage one that is newer in the area but is it worth it and what year machine have the same swing bearing as mine? I put maybe 400 hrs a year on so not huge use. Thanks in advance!
Are you sure the noise is the bearing? Maximum play specification in the bearing is 0.146" (up/down play) which is a little more than an 1/8th of an inch. Does the bearing have adequate grease in it? Does the swing gearbox have oil in it? Does the swing gear grease bath have grease in it?
Yes grease in all spots and oil in swing motor. Thanks
Good day A couple of docs may help. Kind regards Uffex
Here is a video showing how to check the bearing. In general when you see sparkles in the grease coming out of the bearing and you can feel the vibration in the seat when you turn the house, it is usually time. I have seen plenty of times though where the pinion and ring gear had too little grease in the tub and the grinding noise would be obvious. The other indicator that I've seen is the oil would be gone in the swing reduction box under the swing motor. The bearing is not difficult to replace in most cases. I seem to recall both of the mounting bolts for the bearing are on the outside with easy access. Some of the older machines of other makes had the outside bolts going down from the house and they were a pain around the cab and fuel tanks. A new bearing/ring gear is probably between 10K and 15K in US dollars now days.